A Carnita Sunday.

I'm gonna set the Star Gazing Bed up tonight cos tomorrow is a full-on Shagmas Day. So no more Admiral's Cabin for a while. Hallso, one of my upcoming projects is to turn the V-Berth bunks into one big double.

These are my grandfather's birdwatching binoculars. 8X70. The other day I touched, but didn't know how to use/realise they were super fab, those super fab binocs that can stabilise the view.
I love my grampy. I use all kinds of his things.

If only I could control the reptile side of my brain, life would be perfect.

Still Life With Claw

Thank you to In The Now for giving me this dishrack. It's my dishrack dream come true.

I'm living a kind of dream, like, you know, you really FEEL the daze, as if there were no tomorrow; it's how my heart thrives - on this weird life stuff, where you find yourself a beginner with a boat, surrounded by interesting people, and in love with the world's #1 man. So why am I so fcked up sometimes. I want y'all to know that I can be really messed up over small things; like this morning, my darling is leaving soon, and he said he's taking the bike back north, which is fine, but I read into it too much, like, oh, he it's over cos he's taking the bike back (after I sold mine, uh duh), but he loves me and he was only being practical, thinking about me and my bike needs if ever I make it to 7500ft again, so long story short, we entered this crazy negative space this morning, that I regret. Now we're happy again, but I still regret that I'm so messed up sometimes that I read too much into innocent comments.
I also apologise to my boyfriend for just 10 minutes ago doubting his love for me when somebody (a woman) hailed my boat on the VHF looking for him. I immediately thought, 'Oh god, who is this chick looking for my guy' and all my jealousy rose it's ugly head, but then we figured out that the woman was a stranger, who had merely found out that there was a chiropractor in town and this is how she found him/my boat name.
I am sorry to my darling for being fcked up sometimes. It's because I love him so much but if I love him so much I should stop being so worried about small shit, like bikes and strangers just looking for help.
Disclaimer
This post was to out myself as the bitch that I can be.

Thanks Cheryl

I've had a few dreams in life that have ended up coming true; living in Africa, buying a boat, falling in love, and now this dream come true; owning a pair of genuine Texas cowboy boots.
These boots belonged to the 3rd wife of Cheryl's ex-husband. Love it!

Liquid Tape

When my special friend teaches me stuff, like wiring up a new bilge pump, I take photos so I can remember what to do in the future.

Portland Pudgy

I'm totally sold on the idea of using a Portland Pudgy as a tender/lifeboat.
I've always thought that conventional liferafts suck cos they are so expensive and the upkeep is a hassle. Not with the PP. It has a sail, watertight compartments, compass; like one man in the bay has, you could have an electric motor with a couple of batteries running it- con smaller solar panels to keep the batteries going.

Sunrise This Morning

So yah, my darling is leaving soon cos he has some things to do. I will miss him lots, especially the bi-annual manicure he gives me.

Mini Rant

Why me? Why me? My neighbor in the bay runs a NOISY gen all the fucking time.
Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Some people shouldn't be boaters if they still need to watch TV afloat. Arghhhhhhhhhh. Gens suck!

I now truly believe that everything that has happened so far in my life, happened for a reason. So yah, t'other day I picked up The Book of Destiny, which I got for free from a shelf at the marina toilets, and opened it up to a random page.
This is what it sed.

"You are K'at. Rarely will K'at be prophets(in my case, a git) in their own land. Their best love relationships will be with those from elsewhere. They are likely to travel and may live outside their place of birth. Their life will be influenced by other countries or have something to do with them.
K'at means everyone shapes their own thoughts, either positively or negatively. K'at possess a powerful energy to overcome obstacles(I truly believe that this has helped me through heaps of crap in life).
This sign brings a lucky star that will ensure they are comfortable and accumulate wealth with ease.
They are curious.
K'at are sinners willing to investigate. Their projects and plans are often abandoned midway as a result of this curiosity. (My mum was like this, too)
THEY WILL BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE WHAT THEY WANT OR NEED ONCE THEY LEARN TO CONTROL THEIR EMOTIONS.
It is dangerous to place extreme pressure on them, because they feel lows as strongly as highs.(Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahaha...that's an understatement!!)
It is important for them to constantly analyse their life and find a safe harbor. They were born to be loved and have a special physical or spiritual attraction that makes them desirable'.

The Swap Meet was well attended. I ended up buying a pair of real Texan cowboy boots for $20. They belonged to my friend but before that belonged to the 3rd ex-wife of her ex-husband.
I also bought a manual whale gusher pump thingy for $15. I got a dishrack for free. Yeah!

The monthly Swap Meet was held this morning at Marine Mart. My boat's out in the bay there somewhere.

Sunset last night at Charlies Rock.

I love boat windows.
He he he. There are some Swiss folks who live up on the hill, who said to me the other night, 'We saw you shagging on your boat last night'. I close my curtains at night so they were just kidding, but it made me larf anyway.

I was just relaxing in the Admirals Cabin coz I retired myself so that I could do what I wanted to do whenever I liked. It's dreamy to be in such a nice space, with the boat rocking from side to side. There's something extremely beautiful about life on the water. (When it's not stormy, of course)
Hey, did you hear about the freaky weather further south in La Cruz. My neighbor out here in the bay, Arctic Pearl, is down south right now and his big boat rammed another boat when it broke loose, but all was okay. You can check the story out on Latitude 38.
There aren't enough hours in the day.
I wish it was 8am and not 2pm.
Gonna start clearing off the deck so that there's space to bend on the sails soon. Gotta also put latches on certain cupboards that spilled their entire contents during the sail back in March 2008.

Whereas my neighbors appear to rely on generators for their power, I prefer to stick to the solar panels. The reefer only draws an amp, which is awesome.

So yah, my batteries seem to be doing well considering they were 'off' for over a year. I'm currently making 1.7 amps off the solar panels and have my fridge on full blast.
A panga just came by and the two guys in it shouted out, 'Welcome back Maria!!'.
Yeah! Mexico rocks!

I hear the sumo world is rocked with scandal at the moment. Go Asashoryu! You rock! I love live sumo.

This is what breeders must feel like about their baybees; all proud like and tingly.

I have really nice neighbors; Bob, Priscilla and Zeus their Doberdog.

This morning I took Vader to the fuel dock. 2 gallons cost 60 pesos. It took me a while to step back into Vader cos I was spinning a bit from the cawfffeee.

I love my special friend because we both adore spiked coffee in the mornings. The Albertsons Classic Roast in the pic was really cheap yet tastes damn good. I originally bought it for coffee enemas but drink it too. Highly recommended.

So yah, tomorrow, if we have time cos the Swap Meet is going on, we're gonna bend on the sails, and hope to take the boat for a spin by Monday, weather permitting.

Sunrise This Morning

Last night we turned a map of the world upside down for a buzz. My special friend told me lots of stories about Arctic explorations of the distant past. I also learned about Leif Ericson. I can't believe (yes, I can) how little I still know of history. Also, I concur with my friend that the Mercator Projection sucks. What is the biggest island in the world? New Guinnea? Greenland?

Moments From My Day

Right. Orf to pick up my darling. On the menu tonight - chicken and tomato soup con cilantro. Con wine. It's pretty easy to live an awesome life on the cheap.

The sun is shining today.
Sun+solar panels= cold beers and frozen broccoli spears.

Live.

Yeah baybeeeeee!

The first thing I did this morning was put the hammock up. Evil roar.

Putting firehose on the mooring lines to prevent becoming a chav. I took the rubber inside out of the firehose and used the outer for the anti-chafing material. Do you think I can use the inner too?

It sure is fun out here.
I love it!
It's warm enough today to put my original Mexico Daze dress on.
The wind has picked up since though and I've had to put a cardy on, but buoy is it beautiful out here. Music, cervezas, odd jobs to do, like putting my solar anchor light out finally.

Yesterday my darling bought us a bottle of Baileys Wannabe - omg, only $13, which is wayyyyyy cheaper than Bayleeeeees, which is $20 dineros.
So yah, this means I will stay in the bay forever.
This pic shows spiked coffee.
It's a beautiful day in the bay. Just taking a break from firehosing my mooring lines. Cos I did.

Here's me and Vader, motoring like the clappers across the bay, cos I kan.
It was grate.
Bouncy bouncy bouncy con uno Pacifico cerveza.

I want to say a thank you to all of you, el readers, for supporting me through thick and paint thinner. I regard you all as friends who I have yet to meet.
Thor and Liz, you've gotta come down. We will have everything we need for fun times. I will email you a long one tomorrow. I might be 'retired' but I sure haven't found the time yet for quality email contact, which is what you deserve.

The weather's been a bit grey these past two days so photos of the boat in the bay aren't that great but it sure does feel great to be on Arigato Jack. She feels so loving and kind; like she's telling me not to fret too much, that she'll take care of all who drink Monkey Magic on her.

So yah, the first night in the bay was a wet one. Vader the dinghy was full of water this morning. I slept so well out there. I love being on the water. Love it love it love it. Okay, only when it's not blowin' or stormin', but I still love it.
Today we went to Why Mas for supplies.
I want to say a big thank you to my friends who gave me the bottle of bubbly at the launch. It's gonna be part and parcel of a Shagmas Breakfast one day soon.
Tomorrow I will merely potter around the boat, tidying it up and lashing things down, cos I reckon, weather permitting, we are gonna take her out by the end of the week.

Haro From Happy Ho Ho Ho

I love my Pernod so I can't believe that I missed this Monkey Magic Mexican Pernod Wannabe when I last hung out in a hammock in Mekihiko.
It's only 79 pesos and is soooooooooooooooo Pernod.
I decided to move towards boats whilst sharing a bottle of Pernod with some cruisers in Malaysia in the autumn of 2003.

We came back to land to stock up on provisions and got drawn into Marina Terrorist for their 2 for 1 draught beer special. Hic! I'm on my third, after 1 at JJ's, and 1 on the boat.
Hic.

This is my grandfather's briefcase that he used when he worked. It's full of his paints and sketch books. I love it.
The teapot is from Morocco. It's the generic teapot used everywhere. I often buy practical things, like what this teapot is, as souvenirs, but never from airports or souvenir shops. Fack that! I bought this teapot from a local supermarket for half a camel tooth.

Vader

May the Porta-Bote force be with you.
It's such fun using a little boat to go here and there. It beats taking the bus, that's for shore.

It's an overcast day so I won't be able to recharge my sex toys. Just kidding.

Thank you Peter and Elida for coming down.
We'll be dining at Peter's BBQ with friends later this week, if not schooner.
You guys rock!

Yeah Baybeeeeeee!

Here are my grandfather's paintbrushes. When he retired, he took up painting and sketching.
I love using things my grandfather used to use. His breadboard, socks, place mats, drink mats, vegetable peeler and other stuff.

I wuz steering.

So yah, I got a tow out to the bay because it's a lot easier than fiddle facking with reversing. Also, I don't know how to drive 20 tonne pleasure vessels yet.

Launch Story Intermission

My special friend got the Yamaha to run. Wooooooooo hoooooooo! Fck cheap Chinese crap!
The problem had been that fuel had been left in the gen - from years ago- and had turned to varnish. My special friend cleaned the carburator with carburator fluid; which worked!
The Yamaha now starts upon first pull.

Thank you to all the people who came down to watch. It meant a lot to me, even though I was down in The Cave fiddling with the shawshank redemption.

I look calm but I wasn't. Inside I was an airplane toilet being flushed. Actually, I don't look calm. I look like an airplane toilet being flushed.

Thar She Goes

knm,bnbcfghjklmnnvbcxcvm,

Si. It's 6.31am on the morning of the launch, and I'm feeling really nervous, like what I always feel before 'going somewhere'.
Off to the bay, where all of a sudden, I shall have to live off solar and battery power. No more shagging with the light on - tee hee - so I might as well start pigging out again on McD's and Cokes; throw in a meatloaf, with a pile of mashed pots for good measure. Yeah for a light challenged lifestyle!
Where was I?
Omg. I'm launching in an hour and a half.
Gonna get orf the computer and start stowing my cases of Pepsi, Fanta and Irn Bru.
Damn, where'd I put that catering pack of potato chips?
p.s My special friend painted the name on the boat. It was a very moving occasion for me as we also got to use one of my grandfather's paintbrushes.